A recent article reports a new study of government data conducted by Bloomberg News which shows that the rise in for-profit nursing homes correlates with a rise in waste, fraud, and abuse charges.  The article cites findings that “profit motive is having an outsize affect on quality of care”.  

 

This is a tension we have seen many times in our own cases.  The highest cost to a facility is staffing.  It is often the most important factor for quality of care as well.  In some for-profit facilities staffing is cut to bare minimum requirements of the state in order to boost profit.  

 

An important question to ask of an administrator or director of nursing when considering admission at a facility is “What drives staffing levels?”  If it is solely meeting the state minimum requirements, this may be serious cause for alarm.  Staffing levels should be driven by the resident’s needs, not by meeting some minimum state requirement.    

  

The article also cites numerous examples where pointless treatments were done in order to bill Medicaid.  You can read the full article here.